If you’re headed down to the beach to lay out a towel and sunbathe on the south side of the Huntington Beach Pier, you might want to find a different spot. That area is occupied with bulldozers and workers busy building a city on the sand for the Vans U.S. Open of Surfing.

Heavy construction underway just south of the pier in Huntington Beach began on July 7, building the 14-acre site for the world’s largest surf event, which starts July 26.

Organizers said this year’s U.S. Open of Surfing will have a more “cleaned up” feel, no music concerts, less focus on the chaotic festival area and a renewed spotlight on the surf, skate and BMX activity. Changes are coming in response to riots that broke out in the downtown area after the finish of last year’s event, and attendees can expect much more security and police presence at the event and downtown.

“The footprint remains the same; we’re changing the look and feel, putting the emphasis on action sports and boiling down the other things,” said Doug Palladini, Vans vice president and general manager for North America.

It’s the second year Vans will sponsor the nine-day event. Most of all, the company wants families to feel comfortable coming down, he said.

“We really want to welcome family back to the beach.” Palladini said. “We want our peers in the action-sports industry to feel good about bringing their friends and family down. We want it to be inclusive, and really friendly to all ages.”

The event took an image hit last year, after an out-of-control group started fighting near Pacific Coast Highway and made its way up Main Street. A group busted out the windows of Easyrider bike shop with a stop sign and tried to loot the store, before employees and friends were able to hold them back. Portable toilets were knocked over, fires were started and city vehicles were vandalized. About a dozen people were arrested in the months following.

A Downtown Task Force was formed shortly afterward. The group of concerned citizens, businesses and politicians met to suggest changes to help deter similar problems. Suggestions included nixing the live concerts, as well as enhancing security.

Palladini said the disturbance happened in town and not at the event site, and after the U.S. Open was wrapped up for the day.

“There’s huge crowds in the city of Huntington Beach any summer weekend,” he said. “I don’t really look at what happened as directly related to the event. We’ve done what we can to partner with the city to ensure that the safety of the people that come down is paramount. We’re going to remain focused on what happens on the sand.”

Huntington Beach Police Lt. Mitch O’Brien said there will be added resources this year, including undercover officers and others on horses both downtown and on the sand.

More than a dozen cameras have been added downtown, and staff at headquarters will be monitoring and can direct officers to problems.

“We’re warning people, if you think you’re in an alley putting alcohol in a cup, we can watch. Cops can swoop in and arrest you,” O’Brien said.

There’s also an added effort to minimize the adverse effect on residents, specifically with trash and parking. They’ll be going hard after people drinking in their cars before the event. Also, Main Street will be opened to cars, unlike last year when it was shut down for parts of the event, allowing people to gather in the street.

Security hired by the event producer, IMG, will be searching people more frequently heavier than in past years, looking for drugs and alcohol. There is also A new “ambassador program” the city launches this weekend, adds private security downtown that works with bars and can be an extra set of eyes for police. The additional security will continue They will be on hand throughout the U.S. Open.

“We like this event, the people who come in and run this thing are good partners of the city,” O’Brien said. “We want to make sure this event is here for a long time and it’s successful. It’s a surfing event, we want to get back to that – people come here to watch surfing.”

O’Brien said it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly went wrong last year.

“It’s just one of those things where you had a large crowd of people; the mob mentality is a funny thing,” he said. “We don’t blame one reason…we’re just going to try and get better and improve.”

Laylan Connelly started as a journalist in 2002 after earning a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. Through the years, she has covered several cities for The Orange County Register, starting as a beat reporter in Irvine before focusing on coastal cities such as Newport Beach, Dana Point and Laguna Beach. In 2007, she was selected for a prestigious Knight New Media fellowship focusing on digital media at UC Berkeley, where she learned skills to adapt to the ever-changing online landscape. Using a web-based approach, she turned her love for the ocean into a full-time gig as the paper’s beaches reporter. The unique beat allows her to delve into coastal culture by covering everything from the countless events dotting the 42 miles of coastline, to the business climate of the surf industry, to the fascinating wildlife that shows up on the shores. Most importantly, she takes pride in telling stories of the people who make the beaches so special, whether they are surfers using the ocean to heal, or the founders of major surf brands who helped spawn an entire culture, or people who tirelessly fight to keep the coast pristine and open for all to enjoy. She’s a world traveler who loves to explore the slopes during winter months or exotic surf spots around the globe. When she’s not working, or maybe while she's researching a story, you can find her longboarding at her favorite surf spots at San Onofre or Doheny.

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